A German Airbus 320 is down in a mountainous region of southern France, and all144 passengers and 6 crewon board are believed to be dead, officials announced early Tuesday morning. The airplane was en route from Barcelona to Dusseldorf and was operated by Germanwings, a low-cost subsidiary of Lufthansa. Early reports said a mayday call was made by the crew at 10:47 a.m. local time, and the pilot requested an emergency descent, but authorities later said there had been no communication with the crew. Radar showed a drop in altitude from 38,000 feet to 7,000 feet in about nine minutes. The aircraft disappeared from radar at about 11:20 a.m. Search crews found debris scattered over an area about a mile square, according to French search and rescue workers.
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